INTERNET POPULARITY
Anyone with access to the internet is sure to be familiar with social networking websites. Myspace and Facebook are the big two, with a number of other competitors also existing in the market. Popular sites like Twitter and LinkedIn have developed a large user base as competition heats up to gain a share of user activity.
According to site analytics from Compete.com, Facebook is the clear leader in social networking, with 123 million unique visitors and around 250 million users. Myspace is listed as having 61 Million and Twitter has 23 million. Linked In is a business orientated site, with among 40 million registered users and 12 Million unique visitors.
Another internet data company, Alexa, is well known for its measurements of the most popular internet websites. Facebook is currently the 4th most visited internet site in the world, with Myspace 11th and Twitter 15th. LinkedIn also features in the top 100, along with other social networking competitors Hi5, Orkut, Friendster and Tagged.
SOCIAL NETWORKING NOTIARITY
Who can forget Corey Worthington, the 16 year old boy from Melbourne who advertised his party on Myspace? After 500 people attended and wild brawling resulting in police cars being attacked and the dog squad and helicopters being called in, the party received widespread international coverage.
That isn’t the only infamous event Myspace was responsible for. A UK teen pulled a similar stunt and caused her parents house to be trashed, and was then was left with a 24,000 pound bill from police. While over in America, a teenager was shot dead at a party also advertised on Myspace.
Parties aren’t the only problems for Myspace, with a number of incidents requiring police intervention or action in the courts. Suicides, sexual assaults and sex offender usage have been linked to Myspace activity, plus there was the incident of a US schoolgirl running off to Israel to be with their adult Myspace lover.
A number of people have also fallen foul with the law or their industry’s regulators or authorities over posts they have made on Twitter. One such example was NBA team owner Mark Cuban, who was caught by the NBA expressing his displeasure over the refereeing of a particular game. After receiving a hefty fine, Cuban cheekily remarked “can’t say no one makes money from twitter now. the nba does”
JOBS NETWORKING
LinkedIn is designed for users to link with other business professionals in an attempt to discover inside connections when looking for a new job or business opportunity. It also allows users to stay informed about their industry and contact other industry professionals for advice.
In catering to the job market, LinkedIn allows users to post jobs and search for candidates, or for users to browse for new jobs. Apart from being able to enter a specific keyword, the search feature allows a user to search for a job according to location, experience level, job title and function, and company or industry.
Another unique feature is the jobsinsider. This allows the users to search for contacts they are linked to who work at a particular company advertising a job position. Knowing someone already working on the inside can prove to be an advantage in the interview process.
The concept of LinkedIn has even spread to real life, where individuals have been seeking a way to further employment prospects and create new business relationships. Carrying on from the success of speed dating, the latest craze to hit the streets is speed networking, where individuals meet each other for short periods of time to discuss business. The LinkedIn concept is certainly thriving in tough economic times.
While LinkedIn has been specifically designed for jobs networking, other social networking sites can also provide a great benefit for companies looking to advertise positions. Users of sites such as Facebook can easily send out a message or post to all of their friends, advising them of a job opportunity and asking them if they know somebody who is interested.
A personal introduction or friend of a friend is generally more reliable than a respondent from traditional means, plus they are able to get an unbiased account of the person’s background and abilities. Another bonus is the cost and time savings, with a Facebook message being free and less hassle than handling 100 applications from a newspaper advertisement.
YOU’RE FIRED
Whilst social networking has been responsible for the creation of a number of jobs, the opposite has also occurred quite a few times. The internet is full of classic stories of employers catching out their employees and giving them the boot, mostly because of user activity on Facebook.
A couple of months ago, a Swiss insurance worker complained of being too sick to work in front of a computer and needed to go lie down in the dark. Her employer noticed that she was active on Facebook through her mobile and promptly had her contract terminated. While over in the US, a Resident Advisor was fired for being tagged in some party photos, even though they were not shown drinking alcohol.
You don’t need to be caught on Facebook during work hours or found in uncompromising photos to be in trouble with your employer. A CMS teacher was fired for posting racially sensitive comments on her Facebook profile, while an American Football team employee was given the boot after criticising team management over a player trade on his Facebook status.
A social networking account can come back and bite you even in the job interview process. There are reports of doctors and business professionals being rejected for a job application simply because of something amiss on their Facebook profile, such as photos of wild drunken nights. It is now common for interviewers to search for applicants on Facebook and Myspace before a job interview is conducted.
One such individual who found out the hard way was Inspector Chris Dreyfus, British Transport Police’s head of royalty and government protection, as he applied for a position as Chief Inspector. Unfortunately a background check revealed he had posted graphic details of his gay lifestyle and photos of him posing in uniform on his Facebook profile.
While social networking can be fun and a great way to keep in contact with your friends, users must be aware of the pitfalls of using the service. They need to be careful of what is said and what is shown on their profile, as it may come back to haunt them. But that doesn’t mean shunning the services altogether, as you never know when they might come in handy in the future.